Detroit Goes Global

See the World. Change the World. 

Detroit Goes Global is a youth leadership program focused on developing international change agents.

According to the U.S. State Department, only 36% of American’s own a valid passport. Assuming those with valid passports have used it, at least 64% of Americans have never left the United States. The number of passports holders under the age of 18 from low to middle-income backgrounds are even more dismal considering the biggest barrier to international travel is cost. The percentage of passport holders from these backgrounds are likely in the single digits. If young students from low-mid socioeconomic backgrounds do not have the same access and exposure to enrichment opportunities as their more affluent peers, they will continue to be at a marked disadvantage when they compete for the same scholarships, jobs, opportunities, and leadership positions later in life. Detroit Goes Global is a youth leadership program with a mission to develop and prepare the world’s next generation of leaders through cultural exchange and mentorship.

Detroit Goes Global will cultivate young leaders through enrichment programing, international travel and study, mentorship and a comprehensive, custom-built, four-year curriculum unique to organizational goals and expected outcomes. In order to develop and prepare young people to be productive and responsible global citizens and world leaders, they must be exposed to and stimulated by different environments, understand the challenges and opportunities we face as a society, and know how to mitigate the threats that may impede our progress. If young people are expected to change the world, first, they must see the world. The world’s next generation of leaders need to be equipped with the knowledge, exposure, preparation, structure, and a unique set of hard and soft skills to lead their families, communities, and world in the 21st century. Future leaders must see and feel the problems facing their communities and world in order to understand them and work toward sustainable solutions. Detroit Goes Global will expose young leaders to the world, while they share their own diverse identities as cultural ambassadors. Tomorrow’s leaders need to get prepared for this world today, which makes purposeful, directed and guided International travel an educational must-do.

The benefits of travel are well documented. In addition to giving students an advantage in the academic and professional world, international travel builds confidence, cultural competence and cultural sensitivity. It increases language skills and offers infinite opportunities to network. Given the rapid changes in ethic demographics in the US and abroad, cultural and racial diversity will increase in the general population, and students need to prepare for this change and globalization through international travel. In responses to demographic changes in the United States, the participant population of Detroit Goes Global will reflect those changes and prepare students for an ever-changing global society.

This plan provides detailed information about Detroit Goes Global programing, technological solutions, internal operations and strategies necessary to reach organizational goals and objectives. This plan also includes a detailed timeline, information about funding, staffing, marketing, and future possibilities to provide similar services across the United States and the around world. 

Our cohort-based, custom-built Passport Scholars Program curriculum and participant selection process is what makes our solution innovative. Weekly sessions will take place throughout the year culminating in a cultural immersion experience to a different region of the world each summer. Our rigorous, action-based curriculum will take place over four years and will force students to learn by doing. Participants will only have one opportunity to apply, and must complete a program application, individual and group interview. By the conclusion of the program, scholars would have visited more than 15 countries in four continents while growing as leaders, together. 

Our curriculum would not be as innovative if not for the Passport Scholars mobile application, which allows participants to track their progress via virtual passport stamps. A set number of virtual stamps will be required to attend global immersion experiences each summer. This technology is integral to our solution because it allows us to track data in real time, monitor success metrics, and communicate with Scholars, staff and partners. As Detroit Goes Global expands to other cities, this technology will ultimately allow our scholars to connect with other future global changes agents from around the world.  

Our first goal is to launch the pilot program in late 2018 with a cohort of 10 – 15 students. Enrolling our first cohort is paramount to the success of the organization, as they will set the tone for the future and guide us in improving all aspects of programming. Our second goal is to implement the core components of our curriculum, namely our first cultural immersion experience to multiple cities throughout Canada. Our final goal over the next year is to launch the Passport Scholars App, which will enhance the Scholar experience and complement the curriculum. 

A new cohort of 25 Passport Scholars will began the program each year. After three years, our first cohort will be juniors and we expect a total enrollment of 75 students. After year 4, a new cohort will begin while one will graduate, which will keep enrollment at 100. At year 5, we will expand to two domestic and one international city. We will also pilot pre-secondary leadership programming for middle school students and advanced leadership training for college students, as we aim to improve the national persistence rate of students from diverse backgrounds graduating from college. 

Although we will recruit incoming high school freshmen, we will engage parents throughout the application process to earn their support, and to ensure that they understand the commitment and expectations. Serving a niche market and having limited seats forces us to streamline marketing and communication efforts. We will start small and grow slow and steady while developing strategic partnerships with organizations aligned with our mission. We will reach and retain stakeholders by engaging them through our Passport Scholars App, where they can connect with staff and Scholars, track progress towards goals, and learn about programs and events. 

We are currently in the pre-application stage of the Passport Scholars Program. As a result, we have yet to serve our target population. Our application will be available early August with a due date in late September. We expect the Passport Scholars Program to commence in October. 

We expect to serve between 10 – 15 scholars and their families in the next 12 months. We will serve them through weekly programming covering topics that will help them excel in school, abroad, and in life. We will serve their parents through monthly parent workshops, service events, and by connecting them to community resources that fit their needs. We will connect families with professionals, organizations, and resources to develop the whole scholar and family. In three years, we will serve 75 Scholars and families and will serve them in the same way but with increased capacity. 

Our leadership team possess a combination of hard and soft skills in which we are confident will attract resources, people and publicity to reach our goals and make an impact. Our collective background in working in the armed forces, corporate America, large international NGOs, higher education, and the energy sector has given us the analytical, strategic planning, project management, and operational skills necessary to solve virtually any problem. We are also skillful storytellers who take pride in effective communication, teamwork, and servant leadership. Finally, our ability to assemble a qualified team is evident in the profiles of our leadership team. 

Initially, we will rely on a combination of individual gifts, corporate sponsors, and grants and special events to generate revenue for programming. We are also collaborating with organizations that will provide non-financial resources such as legal representation and meeting space, which allows us to cut cost. When we prove efficacy, we will adopt a local nationalizer-funding model by creating an international network of locally based operations of Goes Global organizations. Similar to our inaugural program, most of the money will be raised locally.  

Our solution is positioned for long-term sustainability and expansion because leaders in underrepresented, low-income communities across the country consider our cause a high priority. Aspects of our programs exists within other organizations and are supported financially, which suggest that long-term funding is available. Not only can we replicate our idea in other communities across the nation and world, but expanding our organization to a global network of scholars and like-minded professionals fulfills our mission of developing the next generation of world leaders and global change agents. Finally, we are committed, and confident in our abilities to develop other servant-leaders to run local branches of Goes Global around the world. 

We are applying to Solve because we created an innovative, custom-built curriculum and mobile application that will provide accessible, personalized, and creative learning experiences for students, regardless of race, income levels or zip code. Students who lack exposure, opportunities serve and travel, enter college and careers at a marked disadvantage compared to their affluent counterparts. Solve can advance our work by giving us the opportunity to fail forward and learn more about our solution and user while helping us develop, test, refine and improve our mobile application, which is critical to our success. 

One barrier we must overcome to succeed is sustainable funding. Since we will work with low-middle income students and families, we will not expect them to cover any program cost. As a result, we must appeal to individuals and corporations to cover cost. Solve can help by connecting us with like-minded professionals, providing feedback and suggestions on our areas of improvement, and by introducing us to Solve’s judges, former winners, and strategic partners that align with our mission. Solve can help us develop partnerships with a major airline and large multi-national corporations to enhance our college and career lesson plans.